Hearing loss

Hearing loss is reduced ability to detect or understand sound, ranging from mild difficulty to complete deafness. It can result from problems in the outer, middle, or inner ear, the auditory nerve, or sound processing in the brain.

Auditory system: The structures and neural pathways that detect sound and support hearing. Hearing loss can arise at any stage of this system, from the outer ear to the brain.
Presbycusis: Age-related, usually gradual hearing loss, commonly affecting high-frequency sounds. It is a common progressive form associated with aging and changes in the inner ear.
Pure-tone audiometry: A hearing test that measures the quietest tones a person can detect at different frequencies. It helps establish hearing thresholds and characterize the degree and pattern of loss.
Tinnitus: The perception of sound, such as ringing, without a corresponding external source. It frequently co-occurs with hearing loss, especially after noise-related damage.
Sound: A mechanical disturbance that travels through a medium as pressure waves. Hearing depends on detecting sound waves across different frequencies and intensities.
Noise-induced hearing loss: Hearing damage caused by exposure to intense sound, either sudden or accumulated over time. Loud sound can damage inner-ear hair cells and produce permanent threshold changes.
Tympanometry: A test of eardrum movement and middle-ear pressure using changes in air pressure. It can identify middle-ear problems that contribute to conductive hearing loss.
Speech perception: The process of recognizing and interpreting spoken language from acoustic signals. Hearing loss can make speech harder to understand, particularly in noisy environments.
Audiogram: A graph of hearing thresholds across sound frequencies, usually measured separately for each ear. It records the pattern and degree of hearing loss revealed by hearing tests.
Ototoxicity: Damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve caused by certain medicines or chemicals. Some treatments cause or worsen hearing loss by harming auditory structures.

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